Ghosts and Yokai
by Mortsyn
Summary: Danny meets a strange new "ghost". My first Fanfic please review. Disclaimer: "Danny Pantom" belongs to Butch Hartman and "Nurarihyon no Mago" belongs to Shiibashi Hiroshi.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been an annoying day for Danny Phantom; Skulker had been after him constantly. What made it really annoying was that rather than just attacking him and getting it over with; the hunter was setting random traps all over the place. Danny would be just about to capture the Box Ghost and he would trip over a wire and have to dodge a bunch of arrows. Another time there was a pitfall set for Sam and Tucker. There were also lasers in all sorts of random places in the school. The night went on like this until finally, after he ended up getting stuck in a ghost proof net, he had enough.

"We're going after Skulker!" Danny declared as Sam and Tucker helped him out of the net.

"It's about time!" His two friends replied. (Tucker's PDA was ruined in the pit trap and Sam had been hit by some bright pink paint balls. So they were itching to get even.)

It was not very hard to find Skulker, they simply followed the trail of traps. They found him in front of the library. He was rigging up a something complicated involving lots of wires, a balloon full of what appeared to be ectoplasm and a cat.

The armor-clad ghost turned around when he heard them approaching.

"You're finally here, Ghost Child," He said.

He looked at them and laughed. "I thought it would be fun to have you come to me."

Danny glared at him. "Don't you have anything better to do, like chasing purple-back gorillas?"

"Very funny, luckily for you today I'm in a good mood, so I'll just put you in captivity for the rest of your life."

"Sounds great," Danny said sarcastically as his hands started to glow green.

"Why don't you eat ecto-bolt instead?"

Skulker dodged the ray of energy and began shooting missiles back at Danny. Soon the fight was in full swing. It went on for a good ten minutes until Danny managed to freeze Skulker with an ice bolt.

"Now Tucker!" He yelled and Tucker sucked the protesting ghost into the Fenton Thermos. The trio sighed in relief, glad that it was over.

"I seriously don't care if Pariah Dark himself shows up," Tucker groaned. "I'm going to bed."

Danny and Sam nodded in agreement. Suddenly Danny had an odd feeling, as if he was being watched. A chuckle rang out softly in the night air. The three friends spun around. No one was there. Then Sam gasped and grabbed Danny's shoulder. He followed her gaze and there, sitting comfortably on a light pole he saw it, a new ghost. This one didn't glow like all the other ghosts. It had red cat-like eyes, a bush of black and white hair and was wearing some sort of strange robes. It smirked as Danny met its eyes and took a sip of whatever was in the bowl it was holding.

"Is that all you're doing tonight?" it asked. There was no trace of an echo in its voice, only a strange accent. "That's too bad. I was really enjoying the show."

"Who are you, Ghost?" Danny demanded, tensing up, an ecto-bolt already forming in his hands.

"I'm not a ghost," It jumped off of the light pole and landed gently on the ground.

"I'm a Yokai," It said, suddenly behind him.

Danny spun around in surprise and lashed out at it, but it was already gone.

"Well that was strange," Sam said.

Danny could only nod. He had the feeling this would not be the last they saw of this 'Yokai'.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rikou stifled a yawn as he stood in the office of Casper High School.

"Looks like your documents are all in order," Said the principal.

"I look forward to having you."

She looked at him thoughtfully.

"I am surprised that you chose Amity Park of all places to come to for an exchange. We have a rather strange reputation."

Rikou laughed. "My grandfather is a bit of a… ghost enthusiast. So he said that if he had to take care of things while I was away, I had to go someplace where there were lots of ghost sightings."

That was mostly the truth. His grandfather, Nurarihyon, wanted him to check out the rumors of ghost sightings and if possible recruit some to the clan.

"I see," said the principal, raising an eyebrow. "He sounds like an interesting person."

"Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it."

"Well I've arranged for someone from your house stay to show you around."

Rikou nodded. As far as she knew this was his first time seeing this town, naturally she knew nothing about his midnight tour in his Yokai form.

The door the principal's office opened and a thin boy with black hair and blue eyes walked in. Rikou's eyebrows drew together slightly. He couldn't quite nail it down but the boy seemed familiar. The principal turned to the boy with a smile.

"Rikou this is Danny Fenton, he's from your host family. Danny this is Rikou Nura, he's from Tokyo, Japan."

"I'm in your care," Said Rikou offering Danny his hand.

"Sure," Said Danny looking puzzled. "Nice to meet you."

At lunch Danny introduced Rikou to his friends Tucker, an African-American boy who was constantly on his PDA, and Sam, a Goth girl who quickly made it known she ate nothing with a face on it. Rikou barely managed to hide his surprise when he recognized them as the two humans who were helping out the white-haired ghost last night. Now that he thought about it, Danny and that ghost did look a lot alike. The ghost had even had "D" on its chest. Perhaps there was a connection.

Rikou's thoughts were interrupted by an annoying male voice.

"Hey Fenturd, who's your new friend?"

Danny sighed.

"Dash can you just leave us alone?"

"Someone's forgetting their place," Said the large blond jock swaggering over to grab Danny by the collar. Danny struggled, but seemed hesitant to fight back. Rikou decided he didn't like this so he got up and touched Dash's shoulder.

"Can you let go of him, please?"

Dash turned and looked at him.

"Oh, does the geek have a new loser friend," Dash said in a mocking exaggeration of Rikou's accent.

"What was your name, like Ricky Nerdy or something?" His oafish friends all laughed at this.

Rikou sighed. It was his policy to not attack humans, but some people really tested his patience. Dash walked closer. Suddenly he seemed to trip over nothing at all. As he fell he lost his grip on Danny, who quickly escaped. The fallen bully looked dazed for a moment, then started to get back up, fuming angrily. He looked like he was going to attack Rikou and Danny when suddenly his pants came undone (Revealing his pink teddy bear boxers) and fell into a bowl of soup that had mysteriously migrated underneath him. Everyone in the cafeteria started laughing and Dash, blushing a brilliant and angry shade of red, quickly retreated swearing revenge.

Danny and his friends looked rather shocked at the unexpected turn of events, but soon were laughing with the rest of the crowd. In the mayhem only Rikou noticed the parade of small Yokai slip back into his bag. The small winged old man, who appeared to be their leader, turned and saluted him with a wink.

Rikou hoped that he wouldn't cause too much trouble for his new friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So what do you think of him?" Danny asked.

He and his friends were in the gym where Mrs. Tetslaff, the gym teacher, had divided them into two groups for a sprint test. Danny, Tucker and Sam were in one group and Rikou was in the other.

The whistle went off and they watched a pair of hapless kids sprint off under the gym teacher's fury.

"Well he seems nice enough," said Tucker, who was watching the sprint with some dread. "But kind of ordinary."

Danny nodded. "Still it's strange that he would show up at the same time as that 'Yokai.'"

Danny rolled the unfamiliar word around on his tongue. They had looked into the name last night and discovered that Yokai were Japanese supernatural creature. Not just ghosts, but also monsters, spirit animals and demons. There were a lot of sites on them, but there was no way to know which were true.

"I really wish we could find out more about what to expect," said Danny. "I mean at least ghosts have a few basic powers and we can suck them up with the Fenton Thermos."

"Yeah, and I read that yokai eat people," Said Tucker with a shudder. "I mean how messed up is that?"

Sam could not resist this opportunity. "Now you know how all those poor innocent animals feel. Animals belong free and in the wild, not on someone's dinner plate."

The whistle sounded again. Danny could still remember those inhuman red eyes watching him and the involuntary fear they had aroused in him. It was as if the fear itself was a physical presence. He wondered what it wanted. Also what did it have to do with Rikou? It was too strange of a coincidence that a Japanese exchange student would show up at the same time as a Yokai. Danny shook his head in bewilderment. He still couldn't make any connection between the kind and extremely ordinary Rikou and the mysterious and almost predatory Yokai.

"Hey Danny check this out!"

Danny glanced over in time to see Rikou sprint across the finish line followed by Dash. Danny was surprised. Dash wasn't quarterback for no reason; in fact he was known to be one of the fastest kids at Casper. Now he was bent over double trying to calm his breathing while Rikou was only winded. Dash was not take this well.

After class Rikou finished putting his gym clothes in the locker and came over to Danny and his friends.

"That sprint was totally awesome!" Tucker exclaimed, offering the startled Rikou a high-five. "And Dash's expression at the end when he knew he was beaten…" Tucker chuckled. "He totally had that coming."

"Thank-you?" said Rikou hesitantly, apparently unsure of whether to take that as a compliment or not.

"Yeah, you're really fast," said Danny. "Are you on track team back in Japan?"

Rikou shook his head. "No, I've never had that much free time… though I am in a few clubs.

"Oh, Which ones?"

"Student government and our school's Paranormal Investigations Squad."

That caught the trio's attention.

"The what?" The last thing Danny needed was another ghost fanatic snooping around. It was hard enough keeping his secret all ready.

Rikou noticed their expressions and quickly said, "Don't get me wrong. The club president is a friend of mine and kind of forced me into it. For the most part I just tag along to keep him out of trouble." Rikou sighed. "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"I see." Said Danny feeling very relieved. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tucker and Sam relax.

"Well let's head home."

Just then Danny shivered and a wisp of cold air escaped his lips. Why now?

"I have to go to the bathroom… I'll be right back."

Danny shot off leaving his friends with the puzzled exchange student.

As soon as he was out of sight, Danny transformed into Phantom. He flew quickly back around the corne,r just in time to dodge a wave of boxes. _Seriously? The Box Ghost?_ The other ghosts might have been more powerful but the box ghost was by far the most annoying. Danny had to catch the Box Ghost at least once every day. Danny was starting to wonder if the box ghost could create his own portals.

Danny glanced around the room and noticed Rikou was still in the same spot as when he had left. Danny couldn't see Rikou's eyes, but his hand was over his mouth and he was shaking violently. It must have been his first time seeing a ghost. Danny glanced as his friends silently telling them to get the kid out of there.

Danny turned to the box ghost and said, "Can't you just stay in the ghost zone? I seriously should just keep you in the Fenton Thermos; it would save me a lot of trouble."

"Hah!" said the Box Ghost, as another wave of boxes rose into the air around him. "You cannot keep the ruler of all things square and cardboard in a cylindrical container. I am the Box Ghost… Beware!" The Box Ghost's voice cracked at the end of this as he attempted to raise his voice too loud.

Danny sighed and then he heard a snort behind him. He turned around just as Rikou burst out laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rikou had tried his hardest not to laugh, but the situation was so ridiculous. Rikou thought that the gym teacher was scarier that this ghost. Heck, even Natto Kozo (the fermented soybean yokai) was scarier. When the Box Ghosts voice had cracked in the middle of trying to sound threatening, Rikou just couldn't hold it anymore. He started laughing.

The fight stopped and everyone stared at him. Aware that he was jeopardizing his cover, Rikou tried to stop laughing, but their expressions (especially the Box Ghost who was going from shocked to indignant) made that difficult.

"How dare you…" The Box Ghost began to scream. He was cut off by the white-haired ghost (who looked suspiciously like Danny) sucking him into what appeared to be a soup thermos. Now that the main source of his amusement was gone, Rikou finally managed to stifle his laughter.

"Sorry," said Rikou, not entirely sure why he was apologizing.

"So who are you?" he asked the white-haired ghost. It was a little too late to pretend afraid, so Rikou figured he might as well find out what he could. Anyway he had his own suspicions about the ghost's identity.

The ghost boy shook his head as if to clear it. He then struck a dramatic pose and announced, "I am Danny Phantom, protector of Amity Park." Phantom glanced around nervously. "Well, citizens, I'm off to take care of some… business." He waved and departed through a wall.

_Even their names are similar_, Rikou thought. If his hunch was correct, Danny Fenton should show up any time now. Sure enough, there was the sound of running footsteps and Fenton came running around the corner.

"I heard a commotion. What did I miss?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh just another ghost attack," said Sam.

Rikou looked at Danny expression reminded Rikou of when he would hide something Yokai-related from his own friends.

Rikou realized that Danny was also watching him. It was up to him to decide what happened next. He briefly toyed with asking Danny straight out if he was Phantom, but he didn't feel like now was the time. Anyway it wasn't fair to ask for Danny's secret if he was still hiding one of his own.

"So," said Rikou deciding to break the silence. "Are we going to head home? The principal said you have an unusual house, so I'm looking forward to seeing it."

"Yeah unusual," Danny muttered. Sam and Tucker actually laughed.

* * *

"Are the ghost attacks a common occurrence?" Rikou asked as they were walking home.

Tucker nodded. "More than you realize. Amity Park is probably the most hunted place on earth. Don't worry, though, you'll get used to it."

Rikou hid a smile, they should see his house.

Tucker continued "I mean one time the town actually got sucked into the Ghost Zone."

"Ghost Zone?"

"It's a parallel dimension were the ghosts live. Danny's parents made a portal there." Tucker looked like he was going to say more but Sam and Danny were shooting glares at him.

Rikou put visiting the 'Ghost Zone' on his list of things to do. If he wanted to recruit some ghosts that sounded like the place to do it.

"So are we almost there?" Rikou asked.

"You'll know when we're there," Said Tucker with a snicker. Danny looked like he wanted to sink through the ground.

* * *

Rikou sat in Danny's room. The house had turned out to be the kind of place that was impossible to not see. It had a huge neon sign reading 'Fenton Works' and a strange metal flying saucer like thing on its roof that Danny told him was the ghost opp center.

That was the biggest surprise to Rikou, the fact that Danny's parents were ghost hunters. Judging from the way they went on about dissecting ghosts, they had no clue that their son might be a ghost. He saw Danny cringe as Jack Fenton talked Rikou's ear off about his latest ghost destroying weapon. It made Rikou feel glad that his mom knew and was fine with him being a yokai.

Rikou was laying out his sleeping bag on the floor, when Danny suddenly asked, "Do you know anything about yokai?"

"Some," Said Rikou carefully. He had not been expecting the question this soon.

"Hmm," said Danny. "Do you know anything about a yokai with long black and white hair and red eyes?"

_Wow, he got right to the point, _Thought Rikou. He considered how best to answer that question.

"Well," he said slowly. "That description fits a lot of yokai. Do you know anything more specific, like its power?"

"No, not really," said Danny.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Danny turned out the lights. "Good night."

* * *

Around midnight Rikou woke up. Immediately he was aware of Danny's absence. Rikou wondered where he had gotten off to. As Rikou climbed out of his sleeping bag, his transformation washed over him changing him from human to yokai. The room immediately felt small and cramped. He hated being indoors more than necessary. Rikou's red eyes roved around the room until they fell on the slightly open window. So that's where his ghostly friend had gone. He smirked. It looked like it was time for one of his late night strolls.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the long wait. It has been rather busy these past few weeks, but I should be able to update more regularly from now on. Thanks for your reviews.**

**-Mortsyn**

* * *

Chapter 5

After Rikuo fell asleep, Danny slipped out for his nightly patrol. The night air was refreshing and drove away his sleepiness as he flew swiftly toward the park. He circled above the park until he spotted Sam and Tucker waiting for him on a bench, and then flew down to meet them.

"So did you give him the slip?" asked Tucker.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I even got some good sleep in since we went to bed earlier than usual. Rikuo was out pretty quickly, probably has jet lag."

Danny's green eyes scanned the park. "Any signs of ghosts?"

"Not yet," Sam replied. "It's quiet so far."

"Good, let's do a quick sweep and head home. I don't want doze off tomorrow while I have a guest."

It was fairly easy night, just a few random ghost animals, the ectopusses and the Box Ghost. After they caught the Box Ghost nothing else showed up.

"Looks like we can head home," said Tucker cheerfully. It was just little after midnight.

Danny yawned. "It's nice to have a light night. Thanks for helping out."

"We're your friends, that's what we're here for," said Sam with a smile. "So, same time tomorrow?"

Danny nodded and turned to leave.

"Did I miss all the fun?" Said a familiar accented voice from above them.

Danny looked up and saw the yokai perched in the crook of a tree above them.

"What do you want?" Danny asked, moving between the yokai and his friends. He wondered how he had not sensed it. It occurred to him that yokai may not trigger his ghost sense. That was a little worrisome.

"Hmmm, nothing really," said the yokai stretching lazily. "Just enjoying the cool night air."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Danny repeated. He was used to ghosts stating their intentions or at least their name when they appeared, so he was honestly a bit unnerved by the way the yokai was just casually watching him.

The yokai noticed his discomfort and smirked.

"Tell me who you are first," it said.

"I'm Danny Phantom and I protect Amity Park," Danny stated, his eyes fixed firmly on the yokai.

The yokai jumped off of its branch and approached them. It stopped a few feet away and regarded them with a speculative gaze as if deciding what it should tell them.

At last it said, "I am Nurarikuo, current Lord of Pandemonium. As for what I want, I am looking for ghosts to join my clan."

Nurarikuo watched Danny intently waiting for his reaction.

The name seemed strangely familiar but it was the second thing he said that really bothered Danny.

"Lord of Pandemonium," Tucker said, voicing Danny's thoughts. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's not nice to judge people by their names," Said Nurarikuo, suddenly beside Tucker. Tucker yelped and reflexively fired his Fenton Ghost Grappler. The yokai easily dodged, turning his head to the side and watching it pass with a bored expression. With a quick motion he disarmed Tucker. The yokai looked at the Ghost Grappler with amusement.

"Interesting little device," he said.

"Hey give that back," Tucker yelled brandishing his PDA like a weapon.

Danny carefully remained calm and said, "I'd rather not fight you, Nurarikuo, but I can't have you recruiting ghosts and causing chaos. So I must ask you to leave this town."

"You've really gotten the wrong impression, huh?" said Nurarikuo, toying around with the Ghost Grappler. "Sorry, but I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Then I'll have to make you," said Danny forming an ecto-bolt in his hands. His plan was to knock the yokai out then he would figure out what to do with him. He wasn't entirely sure that he could just put Nurarikuo in the ghost zone, since he had never heard of any yokai there. Well, that could wait. Danny fired off the ecto-bolt.

To Danny's surprise Nurarikuo blocked it by rapidly spinning the Ghost Grappler. "This works well," the yokai commented, as Danny dodged the reflected ecto-bolt. Danny decided it was best to just attack him directly until he could retrieve the weapon.

Danny's legs formed into his spectral tail and he shot forward after the yokai. A few feet away his legs reformed and he attacked Nurarikuo with a roundhouse kick. The yokai evaded by dropping into a crouch. Danny foot passed by only inches above his absurd hair. He moved behind Danny and, before the ghost-boy could react, fired the Grappler.

For a second all Danny saw was that ridiculous sticker of his Dad's face grinning at him and then he was all wrapped up like a mummy.

"Well, that was fun," said Nurarikuo. "But I recommend you be a little more careful when you attack strangers. Underestimating people will land you like this or worse." He poked Danny with his foot, then set the Ghost Grappler down.

"Well it's been fun meeting you Phantom, but I have other things to do tonight" He gave the trio a mocking salute as he turned to leave. "See you later."

And with that the yokai shot off. He was out of sight in an instant.

Tucker and Sam ran forward and helped Danny out of the Ghost Grappler. Danny stood up and dusted himself up.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," said Danny, he looked across the park to where Nurarikuo had vanished. "I just hope that we can stop that yokai, before he causes too much trouble."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rikuo observed Danny carefully as they walked to school. He had used his real name while he was in his night form, so he was still half expecting Danny to turn into Phantom and start questioning him at any moment. But as far as he could tell, Danny had not noticed anything.

Rikuo sighed. He had wanted to test Danny and see how strong he was, but he really wished he had gone about it a different way. He at least could have explained some things to Danny so that the ghost-boy didn't think he was an enemy. Unfortunately, he really disliked explaining things when he was in yokai form.

"Are you okay?"

Rikuo looked up and saw Danny watching him.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well you were sighing and looking really depressed, just now," said Danny rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Rikuo glanced at Danny in mild surprise. It He had taken Danny to be the unobservant type. He would have to be a little more careful about that in the future.

At school, partway through first period, Rikuo noticed that Dash was watching him. He groaned with dismay as he realized the jock was still holding a grudge over the race. He didn't feel like putting up with Dash. Unfortunately, he suspected Dash would go after him before the day was out.

Sure enough, during lunch Dash cornered him in front of his locker.

"So, Ricky Nerdy," Dash said with a sneer. "You really are fast for a geek, but I think you need to work on flexibility. Since I'm such a nice guy I've decided to help you out."

Rikuo didn't like where this was heading. Dash grabbed Rikuo's shoulder and said, "I think we should start by fitting you into this locker."

Rikuo looked at Dash passively. He might not be as strong when he was in his human form, but beating Dash would be nothing to him. That was out of question, however, as Rikuo didn't go around beating humans up over petty things.

He let Dash put him back a foot or two closer to the locker as he decided what to do. Luckily, he didn't have to do anything. There was a loud crash and the school's ghost alarm went off. Dash let go of Rikuo and rushed off.

Rikuo dusted himself off, checked to makes sure he still had the katana he always carried hidden in his shirt and began to look for the source of the noise. It wasn't very hard. The closer he got to the gym the louder the sounds became. By the time he reached the gym he could feel the floor shaking under his feet. As he reached for the door it came open on its own and Sam and Tucker rushed out.

"Where did you put it?" Tucker yelled above the noise.

"It's in the kitchen's freezer. Where else would I put it?" Sam said as she started to run in the direction of the cafeteria. They had not noticed Rikuo. Rikuo waited until they disappeared down the hall and then peered into the gym.

Inside the gym Danny Phantom was fighting a ghost dressed as a knight. It had purple flames all down its back and a glowing green sword.

"How dare you try to stand in the way of me creating a my realm of terror, Whelp," the knight bellowed.

"I think you need to cool your head, Fright Knight," Danny yelled back as he blasted a stream of ice at the knight. Despite his bravo Rikuo could tell Danny was having a hard time.

"What are you doing here?" said a voice from behind Rikuo.

Rikuo turned around and saw Sam and Tucker behind him. For some reason they were holding a frozen pumpkin.

Before he could answer the wall exploded and Phantom crashed into the floor. He was breathing really hard and his suit was torn. He looked up and quickly rolled away right before a pink ray of light incinerated the floor where he had been. The Fright Knight floated through the gap in the wall. He was about to attack Danny again when he noticed the pumpkin. His eyes narrowed.

"So you thought that you could thwart me?" He growled.

He turned back toward Danny and, using his sword, zapped a garbage can, some lockers and an assortment of other junk. They glowed green for a moment then turned into monsters and started attacking Danny.

"That should keep you occupied while I finish off your friends and destroy that _thing_."

The Fright Knight scowled at the pumpkin. Rikuo still had no idea what was up with the pumpkin. He didn't have any more time to think of it because the Knight charged forward and swiped at them with his sword. Rikuo had no choice; he couldn't let the ghost hurt his new friends. He pulled out his katana and brought it up just in time to block the sword. The blow sent him flying backward and he crashed into the wall really hard. His arms were shaking and it felt like he might have broken something. Luckily it looked like he had managed to protect Sam and Tucker.

The Fright Knight appeared to be surprised and a little annoyed that he had been blocked.

"You human scum, how dare you block my sword!" The Fright Knight took a step forward then bent down to glare at him. Rikuo saw his eyes widen in surprise.

"You're not entirely human are you?" (Luckily the Fright Knight said this quietly enough that it was drowned out by the sound of Danny fighting.)

"How did you know?" Rikuo asked, caught off guard by the question.

The Knight had a thoughtful expression.

"It's because you have a similar feel to…"

Suddenly a streak of black and white hit the Fright Knight in the side and he staggered, off-balance, for an instance. That was all Danny needed to wrench the Knight's sword away from him. Rikuo noticed that Danny now had the pumpkin.

"Noooo!" the Fright Knight bellowed, spinning around in rage. "Return my Soul Shredder to me at once."

Danny plunged the sword into the pumpkin.

"To cease the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheath in pumpkin near!" Danny yelled.

The Soul Shredder glowed a blinding green and a vortex appeared above it. The Fright Knight's form began to fall apart and was sucked into the pumpkin.

Before he entirely disappeared he yelled, "Don't think this is the end, Whelp. I shall have my revenge."

And with that the Fright Knight, the Sword and the pumpkin disappeared.

Danny sat down hard and his two best friends quickly rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?" They asked.

"I will be," Danny replied.

Rikuo had sheathed his katana and was just stuffing it back up his shirt when Danny turned around.

"So what's up with the sword?" Danny asked, watching Rikuo intently with his bright green eyes.

Rikuo sighed, so much for keeping a low profile.


	7. Chapter 7

**I had a bad case of writer's block, so that's why this chapter took so long. Thanks for your reviews and please feel free to critique my writing style. I enjoy knowing what you think. **

**-Mortsyn**

* * *

Chapter 7

Danny Phantom had watched in shock as Rikuo whipped a thin, curved sword seemingly out of nowhere. The small teen brought it up just quick enough to block the Soul Shredder and was flung violently into the wall.

Phantom couldn't believe what he had just seen. Sure Rikuo had laughed at the Box Ghost when he arrived, but aside from that he was normal and rather soft-spoken; also, from what Danny could tell, Rikuo was the type to avoid conflict. This was just plain surreal.

Danny shook himself out of his stupor in time to realize the Fright Knight was talking to Rikuo and off guard. Taking that opportunity he managed to get the Knight's sword and seal him away. After taking a moment to recover, Danny turned around and spotted Rikuo stuffing the sword (now sheathed) back up his shirt.

"So what's with the sword?" Danny asked looking at Rikuo intently.

Rikuo sighed and very deliberately finished putting the sword away. Danny was amazed that he couldn't even tell that it was there. He waited patiently for Rikuo to respond to his question.

Just then he heard the sound of voices and people running in the hall.

"It's definitely this way! Let's get there before Phantom leaves." The voice was Dash's.

In the din of sounds he could also make out the voices of Paulina and Mr. Lancer.

"Oh, come on," Danny muttered under his breath.

If he wanted to learn anything he couldn't stay here. He grabbed Sam and Tucker with one hand and Rikuo with the other, then he turned intangible and quickly dragged them into the gym and then through the gym wall. He set them down in the grass beside the stadium. There they were hidden by the bleachers on one side and the school's wall on the other, a good place for a secret conversation. Rikuo winced as Danny let go of him. Danny noticed his shirt was slightly torn revealing a bruise forming on his side.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked.

"I will be," Rikuo said, gingerly touching his side. "I think it's just a cracked rib. Do you have some bandages?"

Tucker and Sam stopped dusting themselves off and stared at Rikuo.

"Um, shouldn't you have it looked at in the hospital if you think it's that bad?" Sam said.

Rikuo froze then he said very slowly, "Actually, it's probably just a bruise; certainly not bad enough to trouble a doctor over."

"Uh, huh," said Danny. He could tell Rikuo was lying. Why would Rikuo lie about being injured?

Danny narrowed his eyes. "So why do you have a sword?" he asked.

Rikuo shifted uncomfortably, and then regarded Danny thoughtfully with his calm brown eyes.

"Do you know where Danny Fenton is?" he asked with an intent look.

Phantom blinked, he had not been expecting this question. Normally he would have thought Rikuo was trying to change the topic, but this felt different: more like a test. He hesitated to answer.

"I just thought that if I'm going to explain, it would be only fair that Fenton should be present. I'm staying at his house after all," Rikuo explained, in a light tone of voice. He continued to regard the white-haired ghost boy with an intense stare, waiting for a reaction.

For a split second an image of Nurarikuo surfaced in Danny's mind. He shook his head, puzzled about why he was suddenly thinking of the yokai.

"I don't know where the Fenton boy is," Danny said. "I would prefer that you explained now since I don't know when I will have time again."

Danny hoped Rikuo didn't notice his hesitation. The Japanese teen regarded him for a moment longer, and then nodded slowly. For just an instant, Danny thought he caught a hint of disappointment in Rikuo's expression.

"It's like this," Rikuo said. "Ever since I was little, I have attracted yokai. Many of them were rather dangerous and I was injured on several occasions."

He paused and his eyes darted over each of their faces. Sam and Tucker were looking shocked and a little worried. Danny maintained an indifferent expression, even though he too was very surprised.

"So to help me defend myself my grandfather gave me this sword. It's an onmyoji katana."

"Onmyoji katana?" Tucker and Danny asked.

"A katana is a Japanese sword," Sam said. "But I'm not sure what an onmyoji is."

"The onmyoji I am talking about are something like Japanese ghost hunters, except they use more traditional methods," Rikuo explained. "This sword only cuts yokai."

That made Danny rather nervous. Rikuo caught his expression.

"Don't worry, I can tell you are a good ghost. Anyway, I don't go attacking people indiscriminately."

That made Danny feel a little better but not quite at ease. Also while he felt like the story was the truth he still felt like Rikuo was hiding things. After all the story still didn't explain why Rikuo didn't want to go to the hospital. Danny descided to take the explanation, but keep a sharp eye on Rikuo.

"Well, I have to go," Danny said. He stood up and shot off into the air.

* * *

Danny met Rikuo, Tucker and Sam at the school's front entrance in his human form. On the way home Sam explain what had happened while Danny was supposedly gone to him. They knew it was important to keep up appearances, since Rikuo was already suspicious.

As they came into sight of Fenton Works, Danny froze. A black stretched Hummer was parked in front of his house. Rikuo looked at him quizzically, but Sam and Tucker understood. The only person Danny could think of with that nice of a car who would visit Fenton Works was Vlad.

Angrily, Danny started walking again. He stormed up the steps (a confused Rikuo and his friends in tow) and opened the door expecting the worst.

The kitchen table was set with some tea cups and fudge. Jack was talking animatedly about ghost inventions while Maddie made tea. Much to Danny's surprise, the person seated across from his dad was not Vlad, but a tall Asian teenager wearing a neat black business suit. He had black hair, bright brown eyes that seemed to take in everything and, most noticeably, a large scar that ran diagonal from above his left eye to his right cheek. He was strangely fascinating and had an unmistakable air of command about him.

As he noticed them he turned and stood up with a smile. Danny noticed with surprise that he was missing his right arm and held a small white dog with his left. The dog whimpered as it looked at them.

Danny had started to walk forward to greet this strange new visitor when Rikuo suddenly moved between them.

"Hello Tamazuki," he said in a calm emotionless voice.

Tamazuki smiled. "It's been a while Rikuo."


	8. Chapter 8

**In case you don't figure it out brackets like this [[ ]] mean they are talking in Japanese.**

Chapter 8

Rikuo had been so preoccupied with making up an excuse for why he didn't want to go to the hospital (he couldn't exactly say he had an enhanced healing ability) that he didn't notice the yokai aura until he entered the house.

Rikuo froze at the sight of his onetime enemy Tamazuki. The half-yokai saw them and stood up. When Danny and his friends started forward to greet the newcomer oblivious of his nature, Rikuo quickly moved between them, ignoring Danny's puzzled expression.

"Hello Tamazuki," Rikuo said keeping his voice and face expressionless.

Tamazuki smiled. "It's been a while Rikuo."

[[What are you doing here?]] Rikuo asked in Japanese, maintaining a polite expression. He and Tamazuki were not enemies, but both had too much ambition to ever be considered friends. So naturally he was a little suspicious of Tamazuki's motives.

Tamazuki laughed. [[Chill, Rikuo. I'm just here on a business trip. Unlike your clan who relies on their protected land gods for money, my clan runs a legitimate corporation. Anyway, I'm not going to bow to my father or some other old-timer for money.]] Tamazuki's eyes flashed defiantly.

His expression relaxed again after a second. [[That aside, I was on my way to meet a client when I heard you were in the area. I figured I'd stop by to say 'hello'. I haven't seen you since Seimei was destroyed.]]

Tamazuki looked to the side and Rikuo followed his gaze. Sam, Tucker and the Fentons were looking at them with blank expressions, listening to their conversation but not understanding it.

[[Let's talk in English,]] Tamazuki said. [[It's rather rude for us to speak Japanese while others are present. We can catch up on clan affairs later. I'm not here to cause trouble, so relax.]]

Rikuo looked at Tamazuki carefully; his instincts told him Tamazuki meant what he said. Unfortunately, Rikuo suspected that trouble would follow the tanuki. Rikuo sighed, he would take Tamazuki at his word for now. [[Very well,]] he said with a nod.

Rikuo turned to Danny who was looking between them with an intent expression as if he was trying to figure out a difficult puzzle.

"This is Tamazuki Inigamigyobu. I was rather surprised to see him here, so please forgive me for excluding you from our conversation."

"It's cool." Tucker said. Danny and Sam also nodded.

"Tamazuki, this is Danny Fenton, Tucker and Sam." Rikuo grinned and added with amusement. "I believe you have already met Jack and Maddie."

"I most certainly have," Tamazuki muttered.

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said with a polite, but wary, smile.

"Hi," said Tucker. "Is that your Hummer out there? 'Cause it is totally awesome!"

Tamazuki gave them a friendly grin. "It is mine. I can show you inside it if you want."

"Really!" exclaimed Tucker, his eyes bulging out of his head in excitement. "Can I?!"

He turned and nearly shot out the door before Danny grabbed him. Rikuo noticed Danny was still watching him and Tamazuki expectantly, waiting for something to happen.

Tamazuki looked at teckno-geek with amusement. "Not quite yet," He said.

"Oh," Tucker said, greatly disappointed.

Sam and the Fentons snickered.

"So what brings you here?" Danny asked.

Tamazuki smiled and said, "I'm here to meet a potential client for my company. When I heard that Rikuo was in town I just had to come visit."

"You own a business?" asked Tucker.

Tamazuki nodded. Rikuo could tell that african-american teen was in awe of Tamazuki. That worried him. Tamazuki was smart and a natural leader, but he also tended to think of humans as tools. Rikuo didn't want to see his new friends get used.

"So who's your client?" He asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.

"Vlad Masters," Tamazuki replied.

That name was a bomb shell. Everyone in the room went silent and atmosphere became extremely tense. Jack, however, looked ecstatic. His grin got larger and larger until he finally announced, "So you know my pal Vladdie."

He walked over and thumped Tamazuki hard on the back. Irritation flashed across the half-yokai's features and he moved away. Jack didn't notice and declared in his booming voice, "Me and Vladdie were chums back in college. You couldn't choose a better man."

"I see," said Tamazuki, looking as if he doubted the 'chum' thing. He glanced at the wall clock and then turned toward Jack and Maddie with a sheepish smile.

"Well, I need to get going. It has been nice talking to you."

Maddie smiled. "Sure feel free to drop by anytime, dear."

He nodded and then turned to Tucker.

"If you want to see my limo now would be a good time."

Tucker's eyes lit up and he nearly fell over backward in his haste to get outside.

"Can I come, too?" Danny asked, looking almost as excited.

"Of course. Would you like to come?" Tamazuki asked as he turned toward Sam.

Sam sighed, "Sure, why not?"

The five of them went outside toward the sleek, black, stretched Hummer. As they approached it the driver jumped out to open the passenger side door.

The inside of the Hummer was more luxurious than the outside. It had tasteful wood paneling on the roof and a comfortable, padded bench in the back that circled around the right side to the front. On the left side there was a curved bar adorned with elegant glasses of various shapes.

Danny and Tucker's were nearly drooling. Sam rolled her eyes at the excess but still seemed impressed.

"You must be loaded," Tucker said.

Tamazuki laughed, "Being your own CEO has its benefits."

He looked at them thoughtfully and asked, "So what bothers you about Mr. Masters?"

The trio tensed up and Rikuo started listening intently.

"Why do you ask?" Danny said carefully. His eyes darting around as if he expected the man himself to appear

"Well, when I brought him up you looked like you had swallowed a cockroach. I was rather curious, since I will be working with him." Tamazuki replied in a disarming tone.

The trio glanced at each other and then Danny said, "Well… He wants to marry Mom and want my Dad out of the way." Danny shrugged. "What can I say, he's a fruit loop."

Tamazuki raised his eyebrows. "There's more to it, isn't there?"

"Of course not," said Danny avoiding eye contact. There was a long pause.

"Hmmm, well I should get going," Tamazuki said, apparently desiding not to press any farther. He turned to Rikuo. "Would you like to accompany me? We have a lot to catch up on."

Rikuo nodded. He wanted to find out more about what the tanuki was up to.

Tamazuki smiled and turned to Sam, Danny and Tucker.

"It's been nice meeting you," He said. "I wish you luck with your studies."

He pressed a button that was near the door, almost invisible in the wood paneling, and the door swung open.

Danny, Tucker and Sam exited.

"Take care," Tamazuki said as he pressed the button again and the door swung closed.

Tamazuki and Rikuo moved to the far end of the Hummer and took a seat on the posh bench. After Tamazuki instructed the driver to move out they sat in silence. Gradually, Rikuo became aware of a familiar presence in the car. 'That idiot!' he thought. Why was Danny following him?

[[Don't worry about it,]] Tamazuki said, noticing the direction of his gaze. [[Your friend Danny is in here, correct? I figured out that he was the ghost boy the moment I laid eyes on him. Anyway I did some research before I came to Amity.]]

Danny nodded uneasily. [[Are you sure you want him to come? He seems to have a bone to pick with Masters.]]

Tamazuki poured two glasses of sake and offered one to Rikuo (Who politely declined).

[[As long as he stays out of the way until I'm done with my business deal I don't care.]] Tamazuki smirked. [[Anyway I've been kind of hoping to see the great and powerful Danny Phantom in action.]]


End file.
